EAST LONGMEADOW — The East Longmeadow Town Council passed a $42.42 million budget for the town and a $36.9 million budget for the schools for fiscal year 2026. At the May 27 public hearing, the body also approved $3.53 million for capital expenses and set the water and sewer fees.
The votes were the result of a months-long budget process in which Town Manager Tom Christensen and Finance Director Kim Collins met with town department heads to create a draft budget that provided for the town’s services, while keeping taxes within the legally allowed limit of 2.5% above the FY25. The Finance Oversight Committee, which included members of the council and community members, examined the budget line by line and, seeking clarification and input from Christensen, Collins and School Department leadership as needed.
Councilor Jim Leydon recused himself from the school budget vote due to a conflict of interest.
The budget for capital projects totaled $3.53 million, with $192,000 of that coming from the sewer retained earnings account and $76,000 funded through the water retained earnings account.
The FY26 water enterprise budget was set at $3.73 million, while the sewer enterprise budget was $2.7 million. To fund these budgets, water and sewer rates are adjusted annually. The water rate was increased by 10 cents per 100 cubic feet, to $4.50 per 100 cubic feet. Similarly, the sewer rate was raised to $4.84 per unit, up from $4.74 per unit in FY25.
The council also discussed a zoning amendment restricting private used car sales. Planning Board Chair Russell Denver said the board had voted unanimously to send the amendment to the council. The change would allow one vehicle at a time to be advertised for sale for a maximum of 21 days. No more than two cars per year could be advertised for sale on a single property.
“This is really meant to address the egregious violators,” Denver said, adding that an RV was advertised on Elm Street for a month and a boat was for sale on the property of a commercial diner. “There are problem properties that need to be cleaned up,” Denver said, calling it a “quality of life” issue. He rhetorically asked, “When does it no longer become a residential neighborhood? When does it become a trailer park?” He added, “We’re not taking away people’s right to use their property.”
Councilor Ralph Page said he did not see a difference between properties that have four cars on a property that are used by residents compared to four cars for sale.
Leydon questioned if the town has a mechanism to address quality of life issues. Christensen said issues can be reported anonymously through the town’s website. “People don’t want to tell on their neighbors,” he said, but because the system is anonymous, he said it is used frequently. If there are multiple complaints about an issue, the zoning enforcement officer will investigate it.
The zoning amendment was referred to the Planning Matters Subcommittee for review.
